Earthlink to take over Stargate e-mail accounts

Earthlink Inc. will be taking over the consumer dial-up e-mail accounts of Stargate, the Internet service provider that bought Intrepid Technologies Inc. in 1999, a Stargate spokesman said.

Stargate and Intrepid customers will have to change their e-mail addresses to earthlink.net addresses once the transition is completed, which is expected to be by the end of the year, said Jon Rosenson, director of strategic initiatives for Stargate.

Stargate filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April, Rosenson said. Earlier this month, Earthlink became the successful bidder to take over Stargate's consumer dial-up accounts, he said.

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Stargate customers should have received e-mail this week providing more information about the transition, Rosenson said. Information also is available at www.stargate.net.

Stargate will forward e-mails sent to their customers' old accounts to their Earthlink accounts until Jan. 15, Rosenson said. Until that date, Stargate also will send an e-mail to people who are sending messages to Stargate customers, informing them they need to update their e-mail address books because the customer's account address has changed, he said.

Approximately 90 percent of Stargate's customers could have their monthly bill stay the same or decrease, typically by no more than $2 a month, he said. The monthly bill will increase for about 10 percent of Stargate's customers, from 50 cents to $4 a month, Rosenson said.

The prepayments Stargate customers made will transfer to their Earthlink accounts, Rosenson said.

Customers who prepay and want to cancel their service might receive pro-rated credit if there is a customer service issue, Rosenson said.

"We're going to look at each case individually. We don't have a lot of customers that prepay," Rosenson said.